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2 Lent

For the director of music. Of David. A petition.

1 Hasten, O God, to save me;come quickly, Lord, to help me.

2 May those who want to take my lifebe put to shame and confusion;may all who desire my ruinbe turned back in disgrace.3 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”turn back because of their shame.4 But may all who seek yourejoice and be glad in you;may those who long for your saving help always say,“The Lord is great!”

5 But as for me, I am poor and needy;come quickly to me, O God.You are my help and my deliverer;Lord, do not delay.

Psalm 71

1 In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;let me never be put to shame.2 In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me;turn your ear to me and save me.3 Be my rock of refuge,to which I can always go;give the command to save me,for you are my rock and my fortress.4 Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel.

5 For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord,my confidence since my youth.6 From birth I have relied on you;you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.I will ever praise you.7 I have become a sign to many;you are my strong refuge.8 My mouth is filled with your praise,declaring your splendor all day long.

9 Do not cast me away when I am old;do not forsake me when my strength is gone.10 For my enemies speak against me;those who wait to kill me conspire together.11 They say, “God has forsaken him;pursue him and seize him,for no one will rescue him.”12 Do not be far from me, my God;come quickly, God, to help me.13 May my accusers perish in shame;may those who want to harm mebe covered with scorn and disgrace.

14 As for me, I will always have hope;I will praise you more and more.

15 My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds,of your saving acts all day long—though I know not how to relate them all.16 I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign Lord;I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone.17 Since my youth, God, you have taught me,and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.18 Even when I am old and gray,do not forsake me, my God,till I declare your power to the next generation,your mighty acts to all who are to come.

19 Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens,you who have done great things.Who is like you, God?20 Though you have made me see troubles,many and bitter,you will restore my life again;from the depths of the earthyou will again bring me up.21 You will increase my honorand comfort me once more.

22 I will praise you with the harpfor your faithfulness, my God;I will sing praise to you with the lyre,Holy One of Israel.23 My lips will shout for joywhen I sing praise to you—I whom you have delivered.24 My tongue will tell of your righteous actsall day long,for those who wanted to harm mehave been put to shame and confusion.

Psalm 74

1 O God, why have you rejected us forever?Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?2 Remember the nation you purchased long ago,the people of your inheritance, whom you redeemed—Mount Zion, where you dwelt.3 Turn your steps toward these everlasting ruins,all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary.

4 Your foes roared in the place where you met with us;they set up their standards as signs.5 They behaved like men wielding axesto cut through a thicket of trees.6 They smashed all the carved panelingwith their axes and hatchets.7 They burned your sanctuary to the ground;they defiled the dwelling place of your Name.8 They said in their hearts, “We will crush them completely!”They burned every place where God was worshiped in the land.

9 We are given no signs from God;no prophets are left,and none of us knows how long this will be.10 How long will the enemy mock you, God?Will the foe revile your name forever?11 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?Take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them!

12 But God is my King from long ago;he brings salvation on the earth.

13 It was you who split open the sea by your power;you broke the heads of the monster in the waters.14 It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathanand gave it as food to the creatures of the desert.15 It was you who opened up springs and streams;you dried up the ever-flowing rivers.16 The day is yours, and yours also the night;you established the sun and moon.17 It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth;you made both summer and winter.

18 Remember how the enemy has mocked you, Lord,how foolish people have reviled your name.19 Do not hand over the life of your dove to wild beasts;do not forget the lives of your afflicted people forever.20 Have regard for your covenant,because haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.21 Do not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace;may the poor and needy praise your name.22 Rise up, O God, and defend your cause;remember how fools mock you all day long.23 Do not ignore the clamor of your adversaries,the uproar of your enemies, which rises continually.

29 When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them. They said,30 “The man who is lord over the land spoke harshly to us and treated us as though we were spying on the land.31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies.32 We were twelve brothers, sons of one father. One is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in Canaan.’

33 “Then the man who is lord over the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, and take food for your starving households and go.34 But bring your youngest brother to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give your brother back to you, and you can trade[a] in the land.’”

35 As they were emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his pouch of silver! When they and their father saw the money pouches, they were frightened.36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!”

37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may put both of my sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him back.”

38 But Jacob said, “My son will not go down there with you; his brother is dead and he is the only one left. If harm comes to him on the journey you are taking, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sorrow.”

Sexual Immorality

12 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.13 You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”[a]17 But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.[b]

18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

A Lamp on a Stand

21 He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand?22 For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.23 If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”

24 “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more.25 Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”

The Parable of the Growing Seed

26 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground.27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

30 Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it?31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth.32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

33 With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand.34 He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.